Severance - Emerald Dream PvP/RP (Horde)

[stray]

Um.

Seriously, you know the huge respect I have for everyone, but I have to say :  What did you expect ??

Actually, Me = Newb. Never played the game much before. Didn't know what to expect, I guess.

[Train Wreck]

I knew what to expect due to vintage '97-'98 UO.  Some things never change.

[stray]

I knew what to expect due to vintage '97-'98 UO.  Some things never change.

Vintage UO was better, actually. At least you could train up enough skills as a newb to be able to fight off "higher level" players and whatnot (because there were no levels).

[Rasix]

I knew what to expect due to vintage '97-'98 UO.  Some things never change.

Vintage UO was better, actually. At least you could train up enough skills as a newb to be able to fight off "higher level" players and whatnot (because there were no levels).

Diet Coke... on my screen.  You didn't play UO, did you? The skill system just got dumb newbs killed. 

"I've got 75 swords and tactics now, I'm going to go attack that dread lord." 
30 seconds later
"OooOOooOOooooO ooooOOoOOoOooO  oOOOOOOOoo" Translation: "Ohh shit, I had my house key on me."
 

[Train Wreck]

Yeah, it was all about the eBolt, baby.  And tank mages.  And when it first opened... earthquake scrolls to kill a screen full of everybody without using a single mana point.  I see what Stray's saying though.  Street smarts went a long way in staying alive.  Skills had to be maxed out to kill, but not to escape.

Back to Emerald Dream, somebody pointed out that the population is almost perfectly balanced.  Interesting.  Battleground queues should run smoother, hopefully.

[Shockeye]

So we've got 30 or so people (including alts) in the guild. What's the point? What's going to define us as a guild? What are we aiming for? Why should we continue to exist beyond just existing?

[Rasix]

Street smarts went a long way in staying alive.  Skills had to be maxed out to kill, but not to escape.

True enough. What was it 62.1 magery in order to not fail a recall?  All you ever needed. Less if you used scrolls. I took his comment in another way, as in you still had a chance to take down the mean bully with sub standard skills.  Of course, the target area for those skills (mainly in magery) changed with the flavor of the week.  Which was a strength, I suppose.  I never had a maxxed 7x GM, but I sure did kill enough.

Sorry for the derail, I just love discussing early UO.  And, I can't muster up enough will in me to make another march to 60.  I hope this attempt is actually successful though. 

I do have money against you in Vegas though. 

[stray]

I knew what to expect due to vintage '97-'98 UO.  Some things never change.

Vintage UO was better, actually. At least you could train up enough skills as a newb to be able to fight off "higher level" players and whatnot (because there were no levels).

Diet Coke... on my screen.  You didn't play UO, did you? The skill system just got dumb newbs killed. 

"I've got 75 swords and tactics now, I'm going to go attack that dread lord." 
30 seconds later
"OooOOooOOooooO ooooOOoOOoOooO  oOOOOOOOoo" Translation: "Ohh shit, I had my house key on me."
 

I played when it first came out, but not much. I didn't even have PC back then. And I didn't say anything about specifics like Dread Lords. I'm just talking about a little self defense.

It's a skill tree system. I'm just making a distinction with Class/Lvl based games.

You can do the same thing in SWG as well. Make an easy-to-roll Rifleman or Pistoleer/Pet Handler, and you still have a chance against a player  who's invested more time in harder-to-grind combat trees.

As for 8 vs 1....Well, that's hard to fight even in a pure skill based game, like a shooter. So whatever...

[stray]

So we've got 30 or so people (including alts) in the guild. What's the point? What's going to define us as a guild? What are we aiming for? Why should we continue to exist beyond just existing?

First things, first...We all need to be at roughly the same level. Then maybe we can actually "do" something.

[Shockeye]

So we've got 30 or so people (including alts) in the guild. What's the point? What's going to define us as a guild? What are we aiming for? Why should we continue to exist beyond just existing?

First things, first...We all need to be at roughly the same level. Then maybe we can actually "do" something.

We all will never be roughly at the same level and may even lose some people if we don't have a goal.

[Shockeye]

64th     Sergeant   Paxx     Severance   30      534    -  0    7,150
829th    Scout     Haemish   Severance   22      27   - 0    370
923rd    Scout      Geiss      Severance     27      47   - 0    213

[Merusk]

So we've got 30 or so people (including alts) in the guild. What's the point? What's going to define us as a guild? What are we aiming for? Why should we continue to exist beyond just existing?

First things, first...We all need to be at roughly the same level. Then maybe we can actually "do" something.

We all will never be roughly at the same level and may even lose some people if we don't have a goal.

I agree,  but I fully expect we're going to lose almost everyone here in another 2-3 weeks anyway.

I'm ever the optimist about F13 guilds, despite history laughing at me.

As to the point? Me, I like raiding.  Weather that's PvP Battlegrounds or PvE instances doesn't matter.  Working as a team with a group of people who you don't entirely hate fulfills my S.A.E.- Bartle lifestyle.

[Shockeye]

I fully expect we're going to lose almost everyone here in another 2-3 weeks anyway.

So if that happens, what do we do about that? Actively recruit the least douchebaggy people we can find to fill up the guild or work on building alliances with other established guilds in order to get invited to raids, battlegrounds, etc?

[HaemishM]

My only personal goal has been to build up a character and have fun PVPing, whether that's Battlegrounds or otherwise.

[Strazos]

Seconded.

[schild]

I fully expect we're going to lose almost everyone here in another 2-3 weeks anyway.

So if that happens, what do we do about that? Actively recruit the least douchebaggy people we can find to fill up the guild or work on building alliances with other established guilds in order to get invited to raids, battlegrounds, etc?

If everyone leaves in 2-3 weeks you stop playing and move on. Why am I the only one that sees that as the only viable option with MMOGs? I mean there is no end of the game. And really there's no endgame. PvP has existed since Pong and hasn't changed much with MMOGs.

[stray]

The disappointment with people leaving in mmo's (at least for me) is not tapping into all the "potential" fun that lies in the content. Soloing isn't going to offer that. Especially on this server. And as much as I like PvP and all that, WoW PvP sucks (not the combat itself...just the implementation and meaningless thereof).

As for endgame, PvP isn't really an endgame, as it's available at any level. If you want equal competition, the battlegrounds are open to lower lvls (Only problem is: It takes much, much, MUCH longer to get into a battleground than it does to get a match going in say, Counterstrike or BF2. Or any competitive/arena/battle game for that matter. Bleh).

Anyways...My only wish, if any, is that we experience the instances etc. without dependency on pickup groups and that we get our characters leveled and geared up together. Nothing more (at the moment at least).

Unless PvP changes, specifically battleground queue inconveniences, I don't really care about any far reaching goal in that subject (other than having at least one lvl 60 character that I can defend myself with, if and when I'd feel inclined to log on). This goes without mentioning a lack of seiges/player cities and all that kind of "endgame" PvP thing too.

There isn't much to work with as far as Crafting/Economical goals either.

Hmm..What else?

Being the first guild to kill _insert raid monster here_ ?

Yeah. Right.

/shrug

I dunno. Some of the questing is pretty neat, and the combat is good....But really, it seems that WoW suffers from a bit of the same shallowness that City of Heroes has (though it's not THAT shallow). It's just not much of the type of game that's worth having too many "goals" in. A few raids, decent loot, and a fairly smooth ride to 60 -- That's the name of the game. If we wanted to be really goal oriented, we'd be playing Eve (or hell, maybe even City of Villians...).

[Lt.Dan]

I got my clock cleaned a couple of times by a priest last night.  Any tips for a 22 Shaman vs 25 Priest?

Fight generally went
them - Destealth mindblast, wand, shield
me - Purge, Frost Shock (resisted), auto attack
them - Mindblast or Scream, wand, shield still up
me - Earthshock (resisted), snare totem, fire totem, self-heal
them - Mindblast, shield still up
me - dead or close to

[Shockeye]

I hate paladins.

I really hate them.

[HaemishM]

We went through Shadowfang Keep last night.

You know all the Horde instances I've bitched about? This was nothing like them. It was, you know, GOOD. Really fucking good. Deadmines was only slightly better, but this one rocked the house. Great loot, great mobs, great atmosphere. This is what instances should be. Why is it all the stuff in the Eastern Kingdoms that I've experienced so far is much more interesting and better realized than on Kalimdor?

I think if we start making weekly nights to hit instances, we'll keep people around longer. Also Hillsbrad is a fucking joke of 6 on 1, +10 level gankage wanking.

[Shockeye]

Today I was in a level 40-44 stranglethorn clean-out group. I was tracking and rooting so they took a lowbie like me.

Great fun. 45+ kills. Death to elves.

[Train Wreck]

So we've got 30 or so people (including alts) in the guild. What's the point? What's going to define us as a guild? What are we aiming for? Why should we continue to exist beyond just existing?

I would like to see us be foremost a PvP guild.

Due to the complexities of trying to grind xp while getting ganked, we should also be geared towards being able to do instances, maybe several a day.  With a group that's not over-leveled, it's a great source of xp, and much more enjoyable as well.

[Train Wreck]

First things, first...We all need to be at roughly the same level. Then maybe we can actually "do" something.

I hear ya.  But most of us *are* in the same level range, that being late teens through mid twenties, and we've been pretty active.  I've done at least one Severence instance run five out of the last seven evenings.  Give us a few days to catch up to you and you'll find your experience improves greatly.

[Pococurante]

I decided against the f13 guild after all because it's on a PvP server.  I suspected then and have watched it proven out since that it is too hard for everyone to get their schedules in synch to level up together.  A normal or RP server makes the most sense to me since then I could solo to keep myself in level with most of the guild.

I've been in several "friends only" guilds in WoW and this is sort of how it always seems to work out.  Level-based games suck for casuals unless they have something like CoH's temporary synch feature.

If "we" change our minds and go to Scarlet Crusade Horde or Silverhand Alliance I'd be happy to twink everyone up... ;)  Not whining, just saying.

[Train Wreck]

I think if we start making weekly nights to hit instances, we'll keep people around longer.

This is the key to keeping the guild together (though I think it should be more often than weekly).  To a lesser extent, TS will also help.  We were a community before WoW, and if it's not extented into the guild, it won't survive; it won't have any reason to.

Besides being more fun, I see instance runs as being the only viable way to level up in a harsh world of gimped ganking.  Players that reach their 20's and believe their only option is to grind xp in Hillsgank or Stonegank Mountains will likely leave the server.  Stray's frusteration will be experienced by everybody if we don't make the instances happen.  Forming groups to quest in such areas will also work, but the xp won't be as good.

[Lt.Dan]

I'm all for instances.  But there are some easy quests that can be cherry picked.  Zones that have tightly bunched quests like the western side of Stonetalon (Charred Vale, and the elfy area north of there) and 1k needles has several nearby quests too.  Each has 6 or so 25-27 quests that could be quickly run through by a group.

[Train Wreck]

/agree

[Flood]

Seeing my PvP rank posted was simultaneously exciting and embarassing.  LOL.  I haven't wanted to look.


ANYWAY.  As for the guild, I think as a whole, we are doing pretty well.  Better than I would have predicted.  As mentioned I think that instances or 3-5 man roving PvP teams will build comradery within our ranks and increase the incentive for us to play. (IE - more fun less grind)  And on the practical side, the bottom line is on a PvP server if you are solo (regardless of your level) your an easy target.


For myself I am sort of grinding/catassing for levels right now.  I admit it.  The reason is that I feel I need to reach at least a median level to be able to participate in raids/battle/battlegrounds, and not be generally harrassed as I travel hither and yon.  But I'm always glad to help whomever, as long as I'm at least getting a trickle of XP from whatever we are hunting.   

[Driakos]

I got my clock cleaned a couple of times by a priest last night.  Any tips for a 22 Shaman vs 25 Priest?

Fight generally went
them - Destealth mindblast, wand, shield
me - Purge, Frost Shock (resisted), auto attack
them - Mindblast or Scream, wand, shield still up
me - Earthshock (resisted), snare totem, fire totem, self-heal
them - Mindblast, shield still up
me - dead or close to

Purge him, then save your shocks.  All you wanna shock priests with is Earthshock.  He doesn't have Silence yet, so you don't have to Hearthstone fake before you heal (if you have to, Makes hands glow green like a heal)  I'd throw Flametongue on, throw down Searing totem, Earthbind, and just hump him, trying to move behind him before his spells complete when your Earthshock is down.  If he was mindblasting that much, you can run him out of mana quick.  Then Earthbind or Frostshock while you chase him down.  You will be able to kick the crap out of Priests, Mages and Warlocks till 40, then it'll start to even out.  Just don't let them cast anything.  If you get low on mana, use your Rank 1 Earthshock just to interrupt.

Not sure if you have Tremor totem yet, but throw that down vs. Priests and Warlocks.  It breaks Fear early. 

Resists can always beat you.

[Strazos]

Actually, shamen have an advantage over priests, due to their instant-cast spells. Mindblast, the staple of a priest's damage spells, doesn't "lock on," so if you can get out of their LoS (behind a big object, or preferebly behind them), their ability to cast is fucked.

[MrHat]

I started really destroying priests when I got a 2hander and windfury.

As for what shockeye said about goals and such, what the fuck is wrong w/ you? You've been doing what's fun for you so far, just like the rest of us.  I'd love to group with guildies (and offer to as much as possible) but seriously, the second I start not having fun, I go do something else.  No need for 'end-game goals'.  Fuck that shit.  When it comes to that we'll deal with it, until then, do what's fun for you.

We've lasted quite a while, but I understand quite a few of us are coming up on contested areas.  Really, I've avoided most of the bad ones by just running the low level instances (I rather like BFD and Gnomer, I think the atmosphere is really good, even though they take 1+h).

I've made quite a few friends with other guilds if we ever have numbers problems, we could probably merge with them.  Mostly PVP guilds though.

I have a great time just having people around to chat with.

[stray]

Eh...Actually. I'm out. For real this time. I used to think I was an advocate of open pvp etc., but I'm not. Fuck me, if this was a PvE server, I'd be lvl 50 by now (really).

Open PvP seems to only be tolerable to me when there's nothing else to do (Yay Wolfpack. Now I see the reason why their pve sucked). Put me in time consuming situations just to get bullshit quests done? No thanks. I don't care for "super dumbshit hard" mode. My cock is already big enough kkthx.

EDIT: Besides, there's no such thing as "Conquest" in this sort of PvP. It's not only inconvenient, it's pretty much meaningless.

[Ironwood]

We went through Shadowfang Keep last night.

You know all the Horde instances I've bitched about? This was nothing like them. It was, you know, GOOD. Really fucking good. Deadmines was only slightly better, but this one rocked the house. Great loot, great mobs, great atmosphere. This is what instances should be. Why is it all the stuff in the Eastern Kingdoms that I've experienced so far is much more interesting and better realized than on Kalimdor?

Told Ya.  Shadowfang is THE best instance in the game.  And I've been to them all.  Even the zone it's in is totally geared towards your ultimate confrontation with Arugal.

Release your Rage.

[stray]

Release your Rage.

I thought he was just talking to me. Being the Warrior up in his face and all  .

[Ironwood]

Release your Rage.

I thought he was just talking to me. Being the Warrior up in his face and all  .

I thought kinda the same thing the first time - that he was screaming at our warrior.  It was only when I realised that our priest had turned into a FUCKING SLAVERING WOLF-DEMON WITH CLAWS THAT WAS EATING MY HEAD that I reordered my thinking on the matter.  We then proceeded to kick in our poor priest.

And, of course, by that point he'd teleported over to his safe area and was chuckling away at our antics.

I like Scholomance too, but it's just not the same.  The whole of Silverpine builds to this 'something is wrong in ze ...Castle' and even when you go to Pyrewood (nice one minute, not when the moon's out) you build on this feeling of deep wrong.  The quests lead you all up to this madman and his keep and once you get in their you're dying to wreak all manner of revenge and come-uppance.

Instances shouldn't be just about the instance.  They should be immersive and create atmosphere from the zone in which they're taken.  That's the trick.  It should be a GOAL rather than just a loot run.

For example, we know that there's gonna be an instance in deadwind pass at some point.  Right now it's just a huge haunted castle in the middle of a haunted village.  They should start putting in history and side quests and really building us up to the instance itself.  The trouble with that, of course, is it runs a danger of becoming another Ravenholdt Manor that doesn't actually get anything patched in for bloody ages.

It's also cool that in Shadowfang Arugal pops up at various points to say 'neener, neener, neener, mad ravings, you'll never beat me.'  By the time he's done that twice you're DESPERATE to kick him in.